THE PRESIDENT: Now, I swore an oath to uphold the laws on the books, but that doesn’t mean I don’t know very well the real pain and heartbreak that deportations cause. I share your concerns and I understand them. And I promise you, we are responding to your concerns and working every day to make sure we are enforcing flawed laws in the most humane and best possible way. Now, I know some people want me to bypass Congress and change the laws on my own. (Applause.) And believe me, right now dealing with Congress —

AUDIENCE: Yes, you can! Yes, you can! Yes, you can! Yes, you can! Yes, you can!

THE PRESIDENT: Believe me — believe me, the idea of doing things on my own is very tempting.

(Laughter.)

I promise you. Not just on immigration reform.

(Laughter.)

But that’s not how — that’s not how our system works.

AUDIENCE MEMBER: Change it!

But, that was way back in July. Yesterday, Barack Obama took the law into his own hands and halted deportation proceedings of illegal aliens on a case by case basis. He changed the laws on his own.